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Aviation

World Aviation Accidents

In 2015 more than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association. The global accident rate (as measured by the rate of hull losses on Western-built jets) was 0.32 in 2015, or about one major accident for every 3.1 million flights. This compares with an accident rate of 0.27 in 2014. (A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired.) There were 68 accidents in 2015 (on Eastern- and Western-built aircraft), down from 77 in 2014. The Germanwings flight 9525 and Metrojet 9268 losses that resulted in the deaths of 374 passengers and crew are not included in the statistics because they were caused by deliberate acts of unlawful interference, namely pilot suicide and suspected terrorism.

The deadliest world aviation accident was the collision of two Boeing 747 passenger planes on the runway of an airport in the Spanish island of Tenerife in 1977. The crash resulted in the deaths of 583 out of 644 passengers according to the Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office’s list of Worst Aviation Accidents.

United States

In the United States the National Transportation Safety Board compiles data on aviation flight hours, accidents and fatalities for commercial and general aviation.

Commercial airlines are divided into two categories according to the type of aircraft used: aircraft with 10 or more seats and aircraft with fewer than 10 seats. The nonscheduled commercial aircraft with more than 10 seats are also called charter airlines. Commercial airlines flying aircraft with fewer than 10 seats include commuter (scheduled) airlines, and on-demand air taxis. General aviation includes all U.S. noncommercial or privately owned aircraft.

In fiscal year 2015 about 786 million people flew on commercial airlines in the United States, up 4.0 percent from 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration projects that more than 1 billion people will fly on scheduled commercial airlines in the United States annually by 2031.

Aircraft Accidents In The United States, 2015 (1)

Number of accidents

Flight hours
(000)

Total

Fatal

Number of
fatalities (2)

Accidents per
100,000 flight hours

Commercial airlines

10 or more seats

Scheduled

17,435

27

0

0

0.155

Nonscheduled

385

1

0

0

0.260

Less than 10 seats

Commuter

343

5

1

1

1.458

On-demand

3,566

38

7

27

1.066

General aviation

20,576

1,209

229

376

5.851

Total civil aviation

NA

1,280

237

404

NA

(1) Preliminary data. Totals do not add because of collisions involving aircraft in different categories.
(2) Includes nonpassenger deaths.

There were 1,280 civil aviation accidents in 2015, down from 1,291 in 2014. Total fatalities fell to 404 in 2015 from 444 in 2014.

There were no fatalities on large scheduled commercial airlines in 2015 for the sixth year running. There were no fatalities on large nonscheduled airlines (charter airlines) in 2015 and 2014. There were nine fatalities in 2013.

Small commuter airlines had five accidents in 2015 compared with four accidents in 2014. There was one fatality in 2015 following none in 2014.

The number of small on-demand airline (air taxi) accidents rose to 38 in 2015 compared with 35 in 2014 and 44 in 2013.

There were 1,209 general aviation (noncommercial) accidents in 2015, down from 1,223 in 2014. 2015 accidents resulted in 376 deaths, down from 424 in 2014.

Large Airline Accidents In The United States, 2006-2015 (1)

Year

Flight hours

Total accidents

Fatal accidents

Total fatalities (2)

Total accidents
per 100,000 flight hours

2006

19,263,209

33

2

50

0.171

2007

19,637,322

28

1

1

0.143

2008

19,126,766

28

2

3

0.146

2009

17,626,832

30

2

52

0.170

2010

17,750,986

30

1

2

0.169

2011

17,962,965

32

0

0

0.178

2012

17,722,236

26

0

0

0.147

2013

17,717,957

23

2

9

0.130

2014

17,646,147

29

0

0

0.164

2015 (3)

17,820,000

28

0

0

0.157

(1) Scheduled and unscheduled planes with more than 10 seats.
(2) Includes nonpassenger deaths.
(3) Preliminary.

World Aviation Accidents, 2011-2015 (1)

Accidents (2)

Year

Total

Fatal

Fatalities (2)

Total accident rate (3)

2011

96

22

490

0.58

2012

78

15

414

0.28

2013

88

15

177

0.38

2014

77

12

641

0.27

2015

68

4

136

0.32

(1) Accident information is current at the time of publication, but is subject to future revision.
(2) On Eastern and Western built jet aircraft.
(3) Measured in hull losses per million flights of Western built jet aircraft. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired.